


Whatever It Takes

by xielenite



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22314841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xielenite/pseuds/xielenite
Summary: Living after the war together, Lysithea reveals the secret of her two Crests to her beloved wife, Annette. Determined to save her life, Annette gets Linhardt's help to remove her Crests.This takes place in the Azure Moon ending.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Lysithea von Ordelia
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Break

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, there'll be multiple chapters to this. This is mostly self indulgent and I'm still getting back into writing prose, so bear with me if anything is too short.

“What?! You can't be serious, right?!”

Your gaze looking down as I yelled at you. The clenched fists, the heat I felt. Your voice choking, holding back tears. 

“It's true. I only have so long to live, Annette. I love you, but… There's no way around this.” 

“Lysi! No, I refuse to accept this! We promised each other that we would always be there for each other, to challenge each other, to become better versions of ourselves! I can't lose you, I refuse!” 

Tears began to roll down your cheeks as you looked at me, as you spoke with a weak voice. 

“Annette… I… I'm sorry, but… This is the truth of it. I can't live for much longer. The Crests… They…” 

You broke into a sob, releasing all the emotions you tried to hold back.

“They RUINED me! They RUINED my life! I have nothing left for me in life! I'm… I'm nothing but an experiment!”

Pain was evident in your voice, and I felt that pain grow in my gut as you went on. 

“I shouldn't have ever enrolled in the academy, or made friends at all, or-- or even tried to do anything! I'm worthless, Annette… Worthless!!” 

“LYSITHEA! Lys, that’s not true!” I cut you short, in a heated rage. I couldn’t bear to see you like this -- your face stained with tears, trembling, calling yourself all these horrible words… 

“Lysi, there has to be a way!” 

You brought your voice down, a bit quieter now. Less heated, but still pained. “Annette, I…You don’t understand… This is my fate, my life…”

“Lysithea. You shut up right now. We’re going to find a way. You are NOT dying on me.”


	2. Glimmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annette seeks out Linhardt for his help to save Lysithea.

I had decided to go to Linhardt for help. With his studies, surely we could find a way to save you. 

“And that’s that. Lysi.. She won’t have much time to live if we don’t do anything. You have to help!”

“Poor Lysithea… This is truly something tragic.” Linhardt expressed his sympathy. “If there is a way to force Crests into a person, there has to be a way to remove them as well.”

Hope grew from the desperation within me. “So you’re saying there’s a way?”

“But as the process for adding Crests is clearly imperfect, the reverse process for removing Crests might be even more flawed… It’s a huge risk.”

“But we have to take it, Linhardt! Lysithea could die!”

“I know… Let’s try to put our all into researching this. I’ll need your help. I could use someone with your talents, after all.”

“Anything for my wife.”

“Of course. Bring her here next time.”  
\--

“So there really is a way to save me, Linhardt…?” 

When I brought you to Linhardt’s place and told you about what he could do, I could sense a small sliver of hope within your despair. Even if it was just ever so small, like a seed just emerging out of the ground.

“I… I’ll help you two out. You need all the help you can get with research, right?”

“Of course.” Linhardt replied. 

“That’s more like it, Lys!” I smiled. “Look, we’re gonna put our all into this, and you’re gonna live.”

“I… I didn't think this was possible, but… I'll try.” You looked at me with dulled, yet shimmering eyes; a bit unsteady, yet excited; holding my hand a bit tighter as the feelings of uncertainty and hope swirled within you. 

“I understand your first-hand experience with the Crest experimentation process is likely far from pleasant.” Linhardt walked towards his bookshelf. “But, you may have to tell me about it, so we can more accurately understand what exactly is going on here.” He grabbed a clipboard and a pen, and walked back to us. 

“U-um… Okay. I understand.” You said, as I noticed your breath began to quicken. 

“Hey, it's okay, I'm here.” I squeezed your hand, and put my free hand on your arm, to reassure you. “You can do this.” 

Memories of a darker time were clearly plaguing you, your breath becoming deeper, your grip on me becoming tighter. “I-I… Um… Yeah…”

“Lysithea…” Linhardt noticed your breaths. “It's alright. We're here for you.” 

“Alright…” You gulped, and then let out a huge breath, as if releasing all the tension inside. “Here goes…” 

You went on to explain your experiences -- memories that clearly brought you pain, but still -- as Linhardt wrote down notes, and as we listened to you, I felt proud. I was proud of you, for the fact that you were able to gather the strength and courage to share this -- that you were determined to do whatever needed to be done in order to take back your life. 

I knew, this was the Lysithea I loved, this is the Lysithea I knew. The Lysithea who would always strive to become a better version of herself, the Lysithea who would always challenge my limits, the Lysithea whose strength and potential made me fall for her. 

Even if the scars of your past hurt you so, I knew that the “you” that I loved so much would shine through no matter what the adversity.


	3. Chapter 3

Annette. Annette Fantine Dominic. Also known as my wife. Where do I start with you…? 

Always outshining me, ever so modest yet so determined -- I was jealous of those aspects of you -- or maybe that's why I fell for you. 

Even through this process, telling Linhardt of my past, it hurt me so -- the knots twisting in my stomach, the pain of the memories, the darkness lurking in my heart… Having to face this, and many more trials in the future? I could just call it quits. 

But I knew I didn't want to give up or fall behind. Giving up at the sign of adversity? I could not allow it for myself. Why? All because of you. Your radiant smile, ever reassuring me and reminding me that, not only was I not alone, but I had a goal to work towards. 

And I refused to die when I still had to surpass you. 

This task to remove my Crests was just another competition between the two of us. Though I tried to work hard to outshine you, you would always be there to catch me if I was overworking myself. 

Hypocrite. You overwork yourself too, you dumbass. 

But the kisses goodnight and the cuddles together in bed were a gentle reminder that, despite our rivalry, your love and care was unwavering. Maybe we had to pace ourselves -- my life was at risk here. I could understand why you wanted to watch out for me. 

I don't want to lose you, after all. I don't want you to lose me.


End file.
